President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke with a Dr. James E. Enstrom of the University of California at Los Angeles. He is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but he spoke with complete objectivity. Dr Enstrom’s studies indicate that actuarially speaking, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints live about 10 years longer than their peers. ( Ensign Nov. 1997) Do you suppose that has something to do with the positive attitude instilled in Latter day Saints? Charles Swindoll said that, ”The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearances, giftedness, or skills. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The wonderful thing about it is that we can choose each and every day the attitude we will embrace for that day.”
A close companion to a bad attitude is worry. It seems to me that it would be very difficult to have a positive attitude while at the same time being worried about the same subject; they are opposing thought processes. There is a Swedish Proverb that states, “Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”
I believe that both worry and a bad attitude give small things a long shadow. Og Mandino taught men how to develop a positive attitude. He said; “I will greet each day with love in my heart because no one can defend against its force. I will cherish my body with cleanliness and moderation. I will persist until I succeed! I understand that I am nature’s greatest miracle… I have unlimited potential. I will greet this day as if it were my last. I will greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death. Today, I will be master of my emotions. Trees and plants depend on the weather to flourish, I will make my own weather. I will pray never for material things but only for guidance.”
There is a story about a young boy who never became discouraged; There was a group of boys who arranged a climbing competition. The goal was to see who could reach the top of a very high hill first. Neighborhood families had gathered around the hill to see the race and cheer on the contestants. The race began… honestly… no one in the crowd really believed that the young boys could reach the top of the hill. Some were heard saying such things as, ‘Oh, It is way too difficult! They will never make it to the top.” Or, ‘Not a chance that anyone will succeed, The hill is too steep and too high!’ The young boys began collapsing , one by one… except for a few who were more determined than were the others. They were still trying to climb the steep hill. The people continued to exclaim, ‘It is too difficult!…no one will make it’. More boys became discouraged and gave up, but one continued higher and higher. This one would not give up. At the end, everyone had given up except the one boy who finally reached the top. Someone asked the young boy how he had done it? What was it that gave him the strength to succeed and reach the goal. It turned out that the winner was deaf!!! The moral of the story …never listen to negative and pessimistic people they will rob you of your most wonderful dreams and wishes. Be deaf when people tell you that you cannot do something you desire to do. It is sometimes difficult to become something greater than what we have been labeled or what we hear. Turn a deaf ear.